blergggg

Parts of my body demanded that this week I taper.



The weather didn't help either.

Bike riding is still going well but running came to a dead halt because my neck dictated to my back that all movement was painful and should therefore be avoided, so I had to go back to just doing my simple physical therapy exercises until things (literally) straightened themselves out again. I did a short run tonight (why is that everyone in my neighborhood feels like they can heckle me while I'm running? I know my ass is 'daaaaayum'-worthy, but you have to work for same as I did, people. C'mon!) and felt okay. 1.5 miles only, but I tried to pick up my pace from the speed I normally go. It went okay.

Swimming just went to the wayside because, as Kate has noted, sometimes it's hard to put in the effort to get in the pool. Once I'm there I'm always happy. Sigh. I'll go tomorrow.

A taper's not so bad at this point, just a little one, right? The next few weeks I can ramp it up and start to really push, and just in time taper again a week or two before the tri to get rested. Only 44 more days...yikes!



I need some advice on what to wear. Seriously.

Stupid Setbacks

While it's been beautiful for the past week (aka exactly what I was waiting for), I failed to stretch before running last week and therefore have been faced with completely obnoxious pain in my left foot upon any attempt to run. It's getting better day by day, but I think the worst idea would be to run on it before its good and ready, lest I damage it further/again.

In other news, my bike helmet has lost its ability to be adjustable and unfortunately is stuck in the "slightly loose" position. I've got an idea for a fix on that one, too, but it's made me wary of biking (amidst traffic, with the sun beating down on me and a humid 70+ degree breeze cooling me as I zip along the inviting, freshly cleaned streets).

It wasn't a total waste of a week, though. I lifted a bit and re-realized the importance of stretching, with the help of my foot and my mother, who sent along a set of stretching exercises from a Bellin training course she got herself entangled with.

Lazy Loretta and Goes-for-it Gus

It's me. I'm the Lazy Loretta.

I have only bad excuses--I was busy, I was out of town, it's just warm enough to be mucky outside, I haven't gotten my bike tuned up yet... All these and more are the reasons I have been slacking this month. Amazingly enough, June 6 doesn't care. Triathlon is going to just keep getting closer and closer until it's here, regardless whether I'm prepared.

So I've been developing a new training strategy for April and May: I will train intentionally rather than whimsically. I will make sure that I'm devoting appropriate amounts of time on each event (instead of avoiding swimming because it's really hard). I will keep records to track my progress (instead of assuming that I must be progressing because that's what happens with practice invariably). I will track of outdoor workouts as well as indoor ones (instead of being tricked into thinking that 10 minutes running on a treadmill is the same as 10 minutes running along the river).

I'll be bigger, faster, stronger. Or...at least two out of the three.

The Goes-for-it Gus in this story is my dad. I learned recently that he did a sprint triathlon (a more intense one than we've signed up for, but back when he was around our ages) and took third. Third. Only two people were faster than him on that course that day. While not at all a realistic goal for me, I'm pretty impressed that it was not only a realistic goal but an achieved goal for my kin.

shortcomings

I've set this goal of doing six workouts per week: 2 of each sport.

That doesn't seem so unreasonable when you consider that I'm running very short distances, and eventually will be able to bike to work, thus eliminating some of my gym time.

Still, I keep falling short by one workout a week. The past two weeks, it swimming, and this week, I ran out of time to run.

I'm not too worried about it, since overall, I feel like I'm doing really well. My swimming is coming back into shape, and biking is...well, like riding a bike. Running will come, I think, if I'm patient with it. I'm not as terrible at it as I was and it's turning out to be all mental. Plus, I'm insanely jealous of Kate's Vibrams and will probably consider forking over a chunk of my next paycheck to similar shoes.

On top of all this, I have SAD like crazy. Was there ever a syndrome so effectively acronymized? Seasonal Affective Disorder is killing me, slowly, by rotting out all trace of sanity I ever had and replacing it with the steadily building urge to kill everyone in the world one by one with hunks of solid ice I found on the street corner. My demands are simple, if you want the carnage to stop: Rapidly melting snow, 45-60 degree days, and clear bike paths from here to eternity. I want to wear shoes without socks, capris, and light jackets, if no jacket at all, and I want to leave my house and be greeted with fresh, warm air that doesn't freeze me to my very core.

I'll take all of these things by the end of the month, please, Minnesota, and no haggling.

In the meantime, my gym has graciously starting offering free Balance Bars near the towel rack, and my life has been 45% better for it.

lauren's tiny tri

Yesterday I did all three.

OW!

At the time.

But today I feel alright. Not sore, not exhausted, just good. I got through everything and I felt super about it.

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow this old friend comes out for the bike to work (2.5 miles each way):



It will be a little sloppy but I will be prepared. Hurray!